Persian MS 93 (The John Rylands Research Institute and Library, The University of Manchester)
Persian Manuscripts
Contents
Except for minor differences, the beginning of the text comports with India Office Library IO Islamic 830 (see Ethé, 2818), albeit under a slightly variant title: کتاب ارداویراف نثر نوشته شد For a poetic translation into New Persian by Zartusht Bahrām Pazhdū, see Rylands Persian MS 41.
For English translations, see Rieu catalogue. For modern Persian translations by Ghulām Riz̤ā Rashīd Yāsamī, (1896–1951) 1314 SH (1935 CE), Muḥammad Muʿīn, 1918-1971 1325 SH (1946 CE) and Raḥīm ʿAfīfī, including the Pahlavi text by Reza Navabpour 1342 SH (1963 CE), see Mushār.
Physical Description
Collation
Condition
Layout
Written in 1 column with 13 lines per page; folio 38 blank. Ruled with a misṭarah hand guide.
Hand(s)
Highly stylish nasta‘līq with shikastah ligatures in black; rubrics in red.
- Signed ‘S. H. Lewin’ on the second right flyleaf a side (f. iia) by former owner Samuel Hawtayne Lewin in 1829, under which appears the title, ‘Persian History of Ardavirafe’.
- Also pencilled by Lewin on the first right flyleaf b side (f. ib) : ‘From the Library of Dr Alex. Nicoll [Alexander Nicoll (1793–1828)] Regius Professor of Hebrew in the University of Oxford’ followed by a brief description of the work, referencing Hyde and adding that ‘I possess a copy, formerly Dr. Guise's’ (referencing what is now Rylands Persian MS 41).
- Folio 1a bears ‘No. 23’ written by an unidentified hand.
- Left paste-down, ‘Bibliotheca Lindesiana’ with shelfmark ‘1/K’, and ‘Bland MSS No. 315’.
Binding
Evidently rebound in Europe. Resewn on two recessed cords, laced into the pasteboards, edges spattered in blue, with red and white single-core endbands sewn in silk at head and tail. Rebound in full speckled calfskin leather.
Boards hand-tooled with central ornaments featuring a quail perched upon an oval within vegetal scrollwork vines, detached floral pendants, vegetal scrollwork corners, and the margins bounded by double-fillet lines, with spine panels also palleted with double fillet lines and central octafoil rosettes, all in gold
198 × 118 × 11 mm.
In good condition but opening restricted to the gutter margins and spine abraded.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
Formerly owned by Alexander Nicoll (1793–1828), after whose death London firm Sotheby and Son sold his library in two sales in 1829, from which legal clerk Samuel Hawtayne Lewin (1795–1840) evidently acquired it, as indicated by his inscriptions on the right flyleaves (ff. ib–iia).
Later acquired by scholar Nathaniel Bland (1803–1865), after whose death London antiquarian Bernard Quaritch (1819–1899) sold his oriental manuscripts to Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford (1812–1880) in 1866.
Purchased by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford (1847–1913).
Bequeathed by Enriqueta Rylands (1843–1908) in 1908 to the John Rylands Library.
Record Sources
Bibliographical description based on an index created by Reza Navabpour circa 1993, derived from a manuscript handlist by Michael Kerney, circa 1890s, subsequently published as Bibliotheca Lindesiana, Hand-list of Oriental Manuscripts: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, 1898.
Manuscript description by Jake Benson in 2022 with reference to the volume in hand, and in consultation with Ursula Sims-Williams, British Library.
Availability
To book an in-person or online appointment to consult the manuscript, visit Using the Special Collections Reading Rooms. For any other enquiries please email uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk.
Digital Images
Manchester Digital Collections (full digital facsimile)
Bibliography
Funding of Cataloguing
Iran Heritage Foundation
The John Rylands Research Institute
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